by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Chatham University, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. These figures are reported by the Department of Education and IPEDS.
For incoming students at Chatham, 67% of new students use loans toward freshman-year expenses, for an average of $10,760 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,322, or about 96.8% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Bear in mind the undergraduate averages later on cover federal loans only, whereas this freshman total folds in private loans too.
Across the full undergraduate body at Chatham (freshmen included), 64% rely on federal student loans toward their education, for a typical $6,551 each per year. That amounts to 23.1% larger than the $5,322 typical freshmen borrow.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $13,102 by year two and around $26,204 by the fourth year. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 64% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,551 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 797 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $5,220,973 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Chatham carry a median federal debt of $18,326 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $18,326 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,250 |
| Students who withdrew | $7,500 |
Debt carried by students who withdrew is a key risk signal — these borrowers owe money without having earned the credential.
The median hides the spread, so the percentiles below show cumulative federal debt at four points in the distribution for Chatham.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $6,250 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Chatham.
The figures above count only the students own federal loans. Adding PLUS loans (borrowed by parents or graduate students) gives a fuller picture of total borrowing at Chatham.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 381 | $27,879 |
| Completed (graduates) | 272 | $31,699 |
| Did not complete | 109 | $21,475 |
Completers face an estimated standard 10-year monthly payment on their PLUS-inclusive debt of roughly $376.93/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Chatham.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 347 | $29,224 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 34 | $20,370 |
These figures turn the debt totals into a monthly repayment picture for Chatham.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The federal two-year cohort default rate for Chatham is shown below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.8% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 635 |
The cohort default rate tracks borrowers who entered repayment in a given year and defaulted within the two-year measurement window.
Median debt differs by income tier, first-generation status, and whether the student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,750 |
| Middle income | $18,750 |
| High income | $19,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,563 |
| Independent students | $16,750 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Chatham.
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Worth Knowing
Unlike most other debt, federal student loans generally survive bankruptcy — and unpaid balances can lead to wage garnishment — so borrow only what you truly need.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.